


Embrace Your Demons

by pumpkinpeasy



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hannibal Lecter is a Sweetheart, Hannibal Loves Will, Hannibal Rising References, Hannibal has Feelings, Love, M/M, Mentioned Mischa Lecter, Mischa's Song, Murder Husbands, Nightmares, Post-Season/Series 03 Fix-It, Post-Series, Series Spoilers, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Someone Help Will Graham, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:45:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkinpeasy/pseuds/pumpkinpeasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will wakes up in the middle of the night from his latest night-terror, into the arms of a comforting Hannibal. He calms Will down, or he tries to.</p><p>(Mature: For language, mentions of murder and because "Hannibal" is... Hannibal.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Embrace Your Demons

Will Graham was shaken out of a gruesome nightmare by Winston suddenly leaping into bed with him. Hannibal watched as he panicked, scrambling and feeling the furry creature licking at his face, moonlight flooding through the window of his bedroom. The other dogs around the bed perked their heads up in response. Hannibal patted Winston down to get a look at Will.  
  
“Will, are you alright?” he asked, cupping his partner’s face. “Will…”  
  
“I-I’m fine, please… I just…” Will found himself short of breath. He couldn’t speak.  
  
His lover was blanched white from fear, sweat dripping down his skin, flushed. Hannibal brought him closer, looking at his eyes in the dim light. He only hiccuped once and broke, choking out _“Hannibal.”_  
  
“Shh, shh… It’s alright.” Hannibal soothed, bringing Will into his arms. Will wrapped his arm around his lover’s body, bringing him closer and burying his face into his shoulder. “Was it another nightmare, Will?”  
  
“Yes.” Will murmured, nodding. He tried to keep his composure, or what little of it he really had, but he just needed Hannibal to hold him close, tonight. He could easily do that for Will.  
  
Hannibal kept hushing him, just lovingly stroking his hair, feeling the horror-sweat on Will’s body like dew upon a rose. He kissed Will’s head, rubbing his back, trying to bring back some comfort. His partner seemed to be calming down in his arms, even if still clutching at his shirt. The dogs were almost standing at attention, sensing their master’s worry and heartache. If it were up to Hannibal, he’d make Will forget everything that happened, and help him move on from what they had had to do.  
  
“What was it this time?” he whispered. Will trembled hard.  
  
“Dolarhyde.” he murmured in response. “Fucking Dolarhyde… he was the-- he was the _Dragon…”_  
  
“Will, he’s gone. He’s gone, Will.” Hannibal said quietly, patting his partner’s shoulder. Will shifted in his grip, sealing the distance between them and nuzzling into Hannibal’s embrace.  
  
He just needed his lover to tell him it was alright, it seemed. Still, Will was shaken by a fine tremor, heart thundering in his chest, vibrations thrumming against Hannibal. On some level, Will had to know that Francis Dolarhyde was long-dead. He had to know, that they were far from the clutches of the Red Dragon, Jack Crawford, or even Gareth Jacob Hobbs. And even so, Hannibal watched every night, as those same people plagued Will’s psyche. Chased him through night terror after night terror, and he woke without sleep in the morning.  
  
Hannibal just held him, feeling Will’s hands running over his back, bringing him closer. He kissed his partner’s forehead, then his cheek, his ear, down the bridge of his nose. Will barely breathed anymore. He just closed his eyes and let Hannibal bring him back. These dreams had gotten progressively more violent and sanguinary, as Will had told it. First it was Gareth, then Abigail, then Dolarhyde. He’d watched countless times as Will broke apart in his sleep, lucid dreams sending him to tears.  
  
“Are the dogs okay?” Will breathed.  
  
“Yes. They’re fine, Will, but what about you?” he asked, petting Will’s damp cheek. Will only shook his head, laying back down with him.  
  
“Not that great.” he said wryly, voice shot and congested with unshed tears. Will sniveled and wiped at his nose. “My dreams are getting worse… _Hannibal…”_  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Y-You have to _know_ that I love you.”  
  
“I do, Will.” he promised.  
  
Will nodded, sighing as he felt Hannibal’s fingers tangling in his moist locks. He reached up, hands shaping Hannibal’s neck, sliding up the sides of his face, just ghosting their way to his temples. Will watched him, even in the dark.  
  
“My love, you are _entirely_ too beautiful and intelligent to be cursed with these nightmares.” Hannibal said, observing as Will scoffed, chuckling at his choice of words. “Part of you has to recognize that.”  
  
“Would that be _correct,_ or just indignation and narcissism?” Will asked. Hannibal’s heart was suddenly a bit lighter, hearing him speak clearly. It seemed the tears were postponed.  
  
“Perhaps all of the above.” he purred, nuzzling at Will’s head. The man in his arms relaxed in his embrace, allowed him the honor of holding him tight. His gorgeous lover slowly calmed again, knowing where he was, and that everyone was alright. A dream was a dream, and it shouldn’t cause more pain than that.  
  
Will sidled up into his arms, humming in content. “Mmm… You’re warm.”  
  
Hannibal smiled into Will’s hair, still rubbing soothing circles on his tender back. Will kissed him back, then rolled over, turning away from him to check on Buster and Winston, who were curled up on the bed. Hannibal hugged him from behind, then. He felt Winston licking at his arm as he snuggled Will close, quite possessive of his partner. Hannibal had to be honest; he sometimes envied the amount of attention these dogs got, in comparison to his own.  
  
He couldn’t help but smile, when he heard Will chuckle. It was the sweetest sound, a small, ringing vibration in the back of his throat. And somehow, that tiny series of vibrations had come to be Hannibal’s favourite. Will kept petting the two dogs with Hannibal cuddling him from the back, the two of them settling back into sleep.  
  
  
“I had a dream about Abigail.” broke through the silence.  
  
Hannibal quirked his head against Will’s. “Did you?”  
  
Will nodded. “I… I had a dream… We were taking her to the park, Hannibal. She was playing catch with you, in the autumn leaves. And you were talking about teaching her to play Mahjongg.” he said quietly, voice becoming so low that Hannibal had to lean closer. “And then she was gone.”  
  
Hannibal closed his eyes, sliding his hand over Will’s heart.  
  
“She… She was just gone.” Will whimpered softly, compulsively petting Winston, now. “The ball landed in the grass. Y-You just looked so lost…”  
  
“It sounds like you are afraid you will forget Abigail.” he murmured, “Abigail is gone, Will. She is, but she will never be forgotten.”  
  
Will scratched Buster behind the ears, wiping at his eyes again. Hannibal felt guilt settling atop his heart like a cold stone, fear and sadness for Will burrowing under his skin. Goosebumps erupted all over Will’s bare arms, as he buried his face in the pillow, and he suddenly had the awful feeling that his partner was crying. Every human needed supports, like a building needed foundation. If need be… If Will couldn’t find his own, Hannibal would be that foundation.  
  
“Will, do you want me to sing to you?” he offered, nosing along his partner’s hairline. Will nodded slowly, sinking back into Hannibal’s tender embrace. He kissed Will, and pulled the covers back over them. “This is a song I used to sing for Mischa, when she was little…”  
  
Will hummed, holding Hannibal to himself.  
  
_“Ein männlein steht im walde ganz still und stumm.”_ he began in a slow, soothing rhythm. _“Es hat von lauter purpur ein Mäntlein um. Sagt, wer mag das männlein sein, das da steht im wald allein mit dem purpurroten mäntelein…”_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just going to pretend this is how it really ended, and Hannibal proposed to Will and they moved to Florence and Will took all 7 of his dogs, and they're living happily ever after, the end. Well, not exactly happily, but after what these two have gone through, it'd be pretty difficult to find a happy ending in there.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
